The Middle Of The Night
by Feefella
Summary: .:From Shadow Kiss!:. -D.POV- Dimitri and Rose talk birthdays, the bitter cold, and that bastard Victor Dashkov -First Chapter of Shadow Kiss-


**A/N: This fic was actually done a few days ago but I couldn't upload it due to the "issues" the site was having. **

**Here is chapter One from Shadow Kiss... I have a list of the fics I will be doing from Dimitri's POV from Shadow Kiss on my profile page soooo go there to see which ones will be done... Yes it is the final list... Yes I know Dimitri was in a few more scenes, but I didn't feel right about them. Trust me about my feelings... I tried to do one fanfic that will never see the light of day because I just wasn't "feeling" it and it came out like CRAP! **

**I Also made another VA Video and the link for that is on my profile too soooo GO CHECK THAT OUT!**

**[Standard Disclaimers Apply]**

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The Academy grounds were cold but I continued to walk. The sidewalks connecting the buildings were covered in slush as I focused on the ground. I had been walking outside for almost an hour now and the cold breeze only seemed to make me feel more sentimental. It was odd how much I loved winter, and the cold. It was a reminder of home, and it reminded me of my mortality. When I stood in the path of the harsh winds I knew where I came from and who I was.

The thought brought Rose to my mind. I knew she longed for a history outside of the Academy. She wanted to come from somewhere, to have somewhere to miss. Unfortunately all she knew was this place and the teachers and administrators were her guardians, her parents.

The more I thought about Rose the more I felt that pull to be near her. I needed to see her now.

And there she was staring off into nothing, arms wrapped around herself in a futile attempt to fight off the cold. Though I couldn't see her face, I knew she was upset about something. Her shoulders were rigid and her leg was jutted out in a way that she always stood when furious. When she was mad at the world and at herself.

_Does she know?_ The thought stopped me in my tracks. If she knew about the trial, I was going to kill someone. I didn't want her to know about Victor Dashkov's trial for the simple fact that the queen was ambivalent on the matter of imprisoning him for life. Rose was one of the most determined people I knew. If she found out that there was a trial she would demand to be there.

I pushed the thoughts out of my head momentarily and walked up to her. I expected her to turn around and say something to me. Her senses seemed to have heightened since the incident in Spokane and it had been getting harder to keep the upper hand in practices with her. Yet she didn't turn around now and I started to grow concerned with what it was exactly that was eating at her.

"Are you sleepwalking?" I asked cocking my head slightly.

She spun around, a startled expression on her face. She hadn't heard me coming at all, and I tried to hide the amusement that was radiating through me. She really was a glorious being, even when surprised. She quickly threw her hands up to her head, smoothing her hair out as if it was a mess.

"I was testing dorm security," she said letting her hands fall to her sides. "It sucks."

I tried to hide my smile. She was insulting me and she didn't even realize it. She looked at me then and her gaze fell to my coat. She tried to hide the shiver that was building up in her lower back.

"You must be freezing. Do you want my coat?"

She shook her head. _So stubborn_. "I'm fine. What are you doing out here? Are you testing security too?"

"I _am_ security. This is my watch." I knew she felt embarrassed then. She looked down briefly and I saw some color rise in her cheeks. I loved these moments with Rose. When her guard was down and I could see her, really _see_ her.

"Well, good work," she said suddenly. "I'm glad I was able to help test your awesome skills. I should be going now."

She turned to leave and I saw the flash of hurt and confusion in her eyes. Something was wrong and she wasn't going to tell me. "Rose-" I caught her arm and was immediately engulfed in that heat that burned between us every time we touched. I quickly let go and tried to compose myself. "What are you really doing out here?"

She could tell by my tone that I wasn't joking around anymore. "I had a bad dream. I wanted some air."

"And so you just rushed out. Breaking the rules didn't even cross your mind- and neither did putting on a coat." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." She hung her head a bit. "That pretty much sums it up."

"Rose, Rose." I didn't hide the exasperating in my tone. "You never change. Always jumping in without thinking."

"That's not true," she objected. "I've changed a lot."

I looked at the gorgeous human being standing before me and thought back to the first time I had seen her. Back then she had been wild, ready to lash out at any moment, at any person. She was sure of herself and didn't have time for anyone. That Rose had no discipline and answered to no one but herself. She had been up for any type of momentary thrill, even to the point of ruining her own self image.

The Rose before me now was much more reserved. She was withdrawn, introverted for the most part. She was skilled in her savagery and knew how to move around anything to find the correct way to attack. She was the type of person to size up the situation not seize it as quickly as she used to. She was haunted, weighed down by a lifetime of trials in the time span of a few days. She lived with the heaviness of losing a close friend.

"You're right," I said, almost sadly. "You have changed."

She knew what I was talking about and I saw her face darken as it always did when she thought of Mason. She missed him and I wasn't sure if it was as a friend or as more. They _had_ been sort of dating before the Spokane incident and I knew a part of him would always be with her.

"Well, don't worry," she said with gusto. "My birthday's coming up. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'll be an adult, right? I'm sure I'll wake up that morning and be all mature and stuff."

I smiled at her and she smiled back. "Yes, I'm sure. What is it, about a month?"

"Thirty-one days." She seemed like it was secretly the most important countdown in the world. Like her life would change drastically in thirty-one days.

"Not that you're counting."

She shrugged nonchalantly and I couldn't help but laugh. I loved these moments between us. When we talked about the happy, random things in life without the shadow of doom that shrouded our world. I would rather have talked with Rose about her birthday any time than have to discuss the impending trial of Victor Dashkov.

"I suppose you've made a birthday list too? Ten pages? Single-spaced? Ranked by order of priority?" I was trying to get an idea of what she might want for her eighteenth birthday. To be honest, I had been trying to find a gift for two weeks now and nothing seemed good enough for her.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, no doubt witty, but stopped. She seemed to think deeply about something before hanging her head slightly and saying, "No. No list."

I tilted my head down a bit to meet her eyes. Something was in them. A mix of anger and sadness. A hint of something else that I couldn't put a finger on. She couldn't have _not_ made a list. There had to be a million things she would want. Hell, I had expected her to ask for something guardian related. The wind blew my hair into my face and, annoyed, I brushed the strands aside in futility, as they only flew back into my face. "I can't believe you don't want anything," I said trying to catch her eye. "It's going to be a boring birthday."

"It doesn't matter," she said and looked at me finally.

"What do you-" I stopped. Suddenly I knew what that look that had flashed in her eyes had been. It had been longing. A longing for something, someone that she would always want and desire, but could never have. I knew that feeling well. I felt it every time I was near her. I wanted to be as close to her as possible. I wanted to love her as she should be loved. A love that would never die, although I would die for her. And that was the problem. I was more concerned with her safety than anyone else's. If we were different people in a different world it would be perfectly normal, but in the lives that we led it was wrong. We were the protectors, the shields to our Moroi. If I lost focus and started protecting the wrong person I could lose both Lissa, who was my charge, and Rose, the person I loved most in my life.

As we stood there staring at each other, I noticed her shiver slightly. Delighted by the change of subject I said, "You can deny it all you want, but I know you're freezing. Let's go inside. I'll take you in through the back."

As we walked I tried not to think about the subject I had just avoided so smoothly. " I think you're the one who's cold," Rose teased as we headed around the side of the novice dorms. "Shouldn't you be all tough and stuff, since you're from Siberia?"

"I don't think Siberia's exactly what you imagine."

"I imagine it as an arctic wasteland."

"Then it's definitely not what you imagine."

"Do you miss it?" The question caught me off guard. I quickly thought back to the images and the yearning I had felt earlier, while walking the grounds of the Academy. The feeling of mortality, of knowing where I came from.

"All the time," I answered truthfully. "Sometimes I wish-"

"Belikov!"

The voice rang out from the silence around us, startling me. I muttered a curse and shoved Rose back around the corner from which we had just rounded. I was not going to let her get into trouble this close to the field exercise. "Stay out of sight," I hissed through clenched teeth.

As Alberta came closer I really hoped she hadn't seen Rose. "You're not on watch." I said with expert aloofness.

"No, but I needed to talk to you." Alberta stopped in front of me, oblivious to the girl hiding just within ear-shot. "It'll just take a minute. We need to shuffle some of the watches while you're at the trial."

"I figured," I said, stiffly. I didn't want to give Alberta a chance to continue on the trial route, in fear the Rose would jump out and demand to know what we were talking about. "It's going to put a strain on everyone else- bad timing."

"Yes, well, the queen runs on her own schedule."_ Shut up, Alberta!_ "Celeste will take you watches, and she and Emil will divide up your training times."

I nodded in indication that I understood, and really hoped that she would go away. She didn't.

"They say the don't mind the extra work," she continued, "but I was wondering if you could even things out and take some of their shifts before you leave?"

"Absolutely." _Whatever. Just shut the hell up already!_

"Thanks I think that'll help." I hoped she was finally done. "I wish I knew how long this trial was going to be."_Shut up!_ "I don't want to be away that long." _Shut the hell up!_ "You'd think it'd be a done deal with Dashkov, but now I hear the queen's getting cold feet about imprisoning a major royal."

Jesus Christ, I could have killed her. How could anyone be so clueless as to continue a conversation that the other person was trying to end?

"I'm sure they'll do the right thing," I said stiffly.

"I hope so. And I hope it'll only take a few days, like they claim. Look, it's miserable out here. Would you mind coming into the office for a second to look at the schedule?"

"Sure." _Why not go inside to look at a damn schedule after standing out in the middle of the school talking about something _private._ Sure why the hell not?_ "Let me check on something first."

"All right. See you soon." I glared at the back of her head as she walked away, back toward the office. I prepared myself mentally as I rounded the corner and came face to face with the shocked girl hiding there.

"Rose-"

"Dashkov?" she exclaimed in a low voice. "As in Victor Dashkov?"

"Yes. Victor Dashkov."

"And you guys were talking about… Do you mean…" she wasn't forming any full sentences and I could see her getting more and more worked up. This is exactly what I was worried about. She was going to fly off the handle. "I thought he was locked up! Are you saying he hadn't been on trial yet?"

As she let the facts set in, I saw her growing more and more excited. She could quite possibly punch someone at this very moment and I was the only one around.

"He's been locked up- but no, no trial yet. Legal proceedings sometimes take a long time."

"But there's going to be a trial now? And you're going?" she asked through clenched teeth. I could tell she was fighting to stay in control of her emotions. But she also looked like she was losing.

"Next week. They need me and some of the other guardians to testify about what happened to you and Lissa that night." As I said the words I remembered the screams and the agony that Rose had been in, being trapped in Lissa's mind. I bit back the rage threatening to bubble up from somewhere deep inside me.

"Call me crazy for asking this, but, um, are Lissa and I going with you?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Look, doesn't it seem reasonably that if you are going to talk about what happened to _us_, then you should have _us_ there?"

I shook my head. No way was that going to happen. I didn't want her or Lissa anywhere _near_ Victor Dashkov ever again. "The queen and some of the other guardians thought it'd be best if you didn't go. There's enough evidence between the rest of us, and besides, criminal or not, he is- or was- one of the most powerful royals in the world. Those who know about this trial want to keep it quiet."

"So what, you thought if you brought us, we'd tell everyone?" She was almost shouting now. "Come on, comrade. You really thing we'd do that? The only thing we want is to see Victor locked up. Forever. Maybe longer. And if there's a chance he might walk free, you have to let us go."

Logically I knew she was right. The best way to win any case was to lead with the star witness, or in this case the star witnesses. But Logic meant nothing in this situation. Victor Dashkov was a unique situation in this world. He was a force to be reckoned with and he couldn't be allowed to walk free. He had proven that by torturing young girls and convincing his own daughter to become Strigoi for his own selfish gain. I wanted Rose to be able to tell the story of what had happened to her and Lissa that night, but I knew it wasn't safe for her.

"It's not my decision to make." That was the truth. I held little to no power where the queen was concerned.

"But you have influence. You could speak up for us especially if…" Her anger switched to dread as she looked up at me pleadingly. "Especially if there really is a chance he might get off. Is there? Is there really a chance the queen could let him go?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "There's no telling what she or some of the other high-up royals will do sometimes." I was exhausted all of a sudden. I didn't want to have this conversation. I didn't want to plead with Rose to understand that it wasn't possible for her to come along. I didn't want to have to go myself. I reached into my pocket and grabbed my keys, tossing them to Rose. "Look, I know you're upset, but we can't talk about it now. I have to go meet Alberta, and you need to get inside. The square key will let you in the far side door. You know the one."

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

I looked at her for a second longer, wanting to pull her into my arms and kiss her. I wanted to make all the pain and anger go away. I turned away and started to walk toward the office, not looking back. As the freezing wind hit my face, I found myself hating the cold weather for the first time in my life.


End file.
